Starting a Pearl Farm in The Philippines

I am on the plane to Manila musing about starting a pearl farm in The Philippines...

Get your bankroll ready if you want to start a pearl farm in the Philippines! Yes, farming cultured pearls is an expensive business! This is true for anyone thinking they want to start their own pearl farm! You need the money. Remember my friend who started a pearl farm in the U.S.? After losing $3 million he decided enough was enough and he left the cultured pearl farming business! Can’t blame him, right? As a side note, he didn't leave the pearl business… just the cultured pearl business. I suspect I have learned that once it gets in your blood, it is hard to tame the passion.

Since I am on the plane heading off on a pearl buying trip in the Philippines, I am thinking about how to start a pearl farm in The Philippines! First, the government is going to need you to show you can sustain yourself for 10 years without any income from the farm before they hand you over that precious permit to start your farm. And you have to find your site. There are over 7000 island in the Philippines! So you have a lot to work with but you also have a lot to work with as in good luck finding your perfect site! To start your pearl farm you need rich, clean waters and protected waterways so the next typhoon doesn't come through and kill your precious mollusks. And I do mean precious. These mollusks have been bred and grown in hatcheries for years so you definitely want them to stay alive. By the way, do you have a hatchery? Get on that because you need to breed, feed and grow your mollusks before you ever even implant them. And I hope you have a good way with your neighbors because people who live on the water in The Philippines do not take kindly to you saying you want to keep this section of water for your pearl mollusks. So, you might have some fights with the locals. Good luck with that!

All joking aside, starting a pearl farm is tough business and a little less glamorous than it might sound. So, good luck getting started! I will report more about The Philippines soon!
India